This week those destinations led a coalition including the British Virgin Islands and Dominica to visit the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association to discuss best practices and lessons learned, and prepare for the upcoming season and a sustainable future.
Government and private industry representatives joined the monthly FCCA Operations Committee meeting, where key executives from association member lines gather to discuss operations, issues and opportunities.
Frank Del Rio projects continued growth
Norwegian Cruise Line has been serving the Caribbean for more than 50 years. The company's belief in the region and its commitment to continued growth are stronger today than ever, according to Frank Del Rio, president and CEO, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, who made an appearance at the meeting.
Del Rio said he was pleased to meet with government and tourism officials from throughout the Caribbean to work together on charting the best course forward. He also thanked the FCCA for its role.
Destination representatives included USVI Commissioner of Tourism Beverly Nicholson-Doty. St. Maarten Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Telecommunications and Transport Cornelius de Weever, Dominica Minister of Tourism and Urban Renewal Robert Tonge, British Virgin Islands Minister of Communications and Works Mark Vanterpool and Puerto Rico Tourism Co. chief strategist Ronald Castro.
They convened with NCLH exectives including Howard Sherman, EVP on-board revenue, port & destination services & casino operations; Steve Moeller, VP commercial development, and Sandi Weir, VP destination development & government relations. Also present were Carlos Torres de Navarra, VP commercial port operations, Carnival Cruise Line; Albino Supino di Lorenzo, VP operations, MSC Cruises USA, and Arnaldo Zanonato, senior manager, Port Adventures, Disney Cruise Line.
Nicholson-Doty credited the constant communications and updates with the FCCA and member lines, which assisted with everything from relief supplies and evacuation efforts to getting ships back and ensuring passengers would have a nice visit. She said USVI residents rallied to ready the destination and were delighted to welcome visitors again, and that they remain committed to delivering an exceptional experience.
Puerto Rico's Castro echoed the significance of the partnership with the industry and commitment from cruise executives, noting some even visited immediately after the hurricanes to help get the port online to receive both cargo and cruise vessels. In combination with the peoples’ and stakeholders’ efforts and a well executed and transparent communications and marketing strategy, this led to an incredible recovery, with homeporting operations resuming only two and a half weeks after the disaster.
Caribbean homeporting seen as vital
The group agreed homeporting is vital for the region and that it adds more reasons and ways to work and grow together.
'We are committed to working with our FCCA partners and our neighboring destinations to continue positioning the Caribbean as the premier cruising destination in the world,' added Carla Campos, acting executive director of the Puerto Rico Tourism Co. 'The government of Puerto Rico worked collaboratively to resume operations as quickly as possible, recognizing our strategic role as an important hub for itineraries in the rest of the Caribbean, and we're very much looking forward to what we anticipate will be a record-breaking 1.7m passengers for the 2018/2019 season,' she said.
Port St. Maarten business development officer Alex Gumbs also praised the FCCA and member lines for the relief efforts and the continual feedback, and he reiterated the importance of citizens’ efforts. St. Maarten, he said, quickly enacted a strategy to gather the private and public sectors to meet with a consultant who's a former cruise line executive to prepare for cruise passengers’ return and finding ways to rebuild better than ever. To this end, Gumbs mentioned one of the best decisions was taking a large delegation of stakeholders to participate in the 2017 FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show in Mérida, Mexico, to discuss the progress and opportunities with attendees.
Opportunities to improve took center stage at the meeting, with the destination representatives and cruise executives focusing on authentic experiences that tell the destinations’ stories while diving into numerous sites throughout the region with potential for retail, dining and things to see and do.
Strategy for the upcoming hurricane season
At this week's meeting, the destination representatives and cruise executives also discussed plans for the upcoming hurricane season and the foreseeable future, including establishing a network of destinations to transport essential goods and creating a process to identify the needs of individual destinations for both relief efforts and an ongoing basis.
The meeting was considered so valuable that cruise executives suggested holding similar get-togethers every quarter with the FCCA Operations Committee, which would further the efforts of the regular events the FCCA hosts throughout the year.
One of those, the FCCA Cruise Conference & Trade Show is expected to draw 1,000 stakeholders and 100 cruise line executives for meetings, workshops and networking opportunities to San Juan, Puerto Rico, Nov. 5-9.
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